Tragedy of Sakura
by Raikiriblitz
Summary: The life of a cherry blossom is short, fleeting. Few will linger to gaze at its beauty. Some wish to stay forever.


Tragedy of Sakura

Summary: The life of a cherry blossom is short. They grow in masses, and everyone is caught in their beauty. But it is fleeting. Few will linger a while longer, but one wishes to remain forever.

**I do not own **_**Naruto. **_**The franchise is owned by its respective owners. **

The clouds were dark, and the rain was heavy. Konohagakure, filled with vibrant life, had been switched for dark masses. The people marched slowly towards the official building where the funeral was being held. Few said words, mumbling apologies if they accidently bumped into one another. Anbu looked overhead. Though they were sad for the recent passing of a colleague, their duty was first and foremost to protect the Village. They would mourn later.

The rest of the Shinobi gathered on top of the building, garbed in black as it should have been, huddled underneath umbrellas. The only one who wasn't was the Hokage, who stood in his official robes before a coffin. He gazed upon it with tears slowly falling down his cheeks. Sighing, he turned towards the Shinobi and walked forward. He kept his eyes down, not even looking at his wife of children. Hinata would try to comfort him later, he concluded. His son would hang around his friend, Sarada, to keep her company as she endured her recent loss.

_And without her own father here, _Naruto thought to himself as he walked past her. _Who's to say she wouldn't leave the Village because there was no one to take care of her. _

Ino and Sai looked at Naruto in sympathy, as they had both lost their friend. Naruto walked past them too. His thoughts reached all over the place, he couldn't focus.

His teammate was dead.

How did she die? She was killed in action. Bandits attacked Naruto and his entourage of escorts on the way back to Konoha. It shouldn't have been an issue, and it wasn't at first. Between himself, Sakura, Shikamaru and the bodyguards, they were dealt with rather easily. As Naruto boasted about how he hadn't lost his touch, Sakura had noted that there was something off and it was too easy to have taken them out rather quickly. But Naruto shrugged it off and decided to keep on moving.

The moment he turned his back, heard whisting from a long distance, and before he could react, he felt a body collide into his. He was sent to the ground. By the time he recovered, Sakura's body was on the ground, an arrow protruding from her, where her heart was.

Shikamaru had enough time to capture the assassins and have Anbu bound them, but Naruto was focused on his teammate. He lifted her gingerly, afraid that he would break her. But it would have been redundant, as she had no pulse by the time he checked it. He couldn't believe it. Sakura had died, saving his life.

He understood what it was meant to be Hokage, and what it was meant to be a Shinobi. Sakura was doing her duty as any other shinobi would have, and it could be argued that any other death would have jarred the Hokage. But this was personal. This was his best friend. How could he have been so blind to his surroundings? Had it not been for Sakura, he would have been dead. But … he'd be lying if he said he would have rather taken the arrow instead of Sakura, even after knowing that the arrow was going to kill him. He notes that it makes him selfish as he also had his family to be concerned about, not to mention the Village. He didn't have a successor, and Konohamaru wasn't ready for the trials of being Hokage.

What about Sarada? Sasuke hasn't been around for a while, he doesn't even know his wife's dead. And Naruto doubted Sasuke would be considering staying put in Konoha to watch over his daughter. But Naruto would have to change that. After he had told Sarada about her mother's death, she was horrified. And after watching her cry for hours, she pointed her finger at Naruto and blames him for Sakura's death. For a moment, Naruto saw Sasuke in her, and was scared to continue holding the conversation.

Sakura's parents took it better than their granddaughter. Though clearly upset by the loss of their only daughter, they did note that it was her duty as a kunoichi, and she would have taken a hit for Naruto no matter the costs.

Naruto looked over the side and watched the masses slowly come to a stop. He gripped the rail and took a breath.

"It is with great sorrow, that I announce the death of Sakura Haruno …."

He went into a long speech about the many qualities Sakura possessed, the many duties she had performed in the name of the Village, and her dedication to her friends, family, and the Village. As he went on, he thought of all the times he shared with Sakura. The brief moments of peace they got to share, the comedic moments where his face met the end of her punch to keep him in line. The moments in rising conflict where they reassured each other that they would preserve their goals and fight to the end.

Naruto ended his speech, and the Shinobi would lay their flowers on the grave in respect, filed one by one as they expressed sorrow for their colleague. Naruto watched the proceedings, a bouquet of flowers in his hands as he waited his turn. As he approached the coffin, he hesitated to place the bouquet upon it, but did so any way and moved along.

As he walked back, he stared at the picture of Sakura that stood behind the casket. It wouldn't be the last time he would see that smile, but seeing it in person was a different experience.

The masses eventually filed away, the Shinobi as well. Hinata would try to convince her husband to go home, but Naruto told her that he wanted to pay his last respects before the body was buried. Hinata understood, kissed his cheek, and took their children home. He stood there for hours, until he was the last person there. Or so he thought.

He noted Sarada's presence behind him, though he couldn't tell if she was staring at him in hate, or at her mother's coffin in sorrow. Naruto never broke his vigil as it carried on into the night. The rain got heavier, and he continued to stand there. As did Sarada.

He had to break it eventually.

"Do you hate me for your mother's death?" Naruto asked. Sarada didn't respond right away. "If you do, you're not alone; I hate myself too."

"Why would you hate yourself?" Sarada asked quietly. Naruto could sense the chill in her voice from being out in the cold rain. He turned around as he pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around Sarada. She tried to push it away, but Naruto cast a warning glare.

"I'd rather you listen to me. Your mother would have wanted you to stay warm. And I don't want to see you die at a young age." Naruto watched the child as she finally sighed, giving into the demand. Naruto turned his back away from her and looked back to the grave.

"Why would I hate myself?" He responded to Sarada. "The fact that I was too self-centered, and could have prevented her death had I been vigilant. All your mother had ever wanted was to be happy. She had gotten to marry the man of her dreams, and then she had you. You were her pride and joy. And because of me, she will never get to see you grow up." Naruto looked up to the Hokage Monument, though dark, he could still distinguish the faces between his predecessors. "The goal she had been striving for is now gone." Naruto turned back to Sarada.

"All I can say to you Sarada, is that I'm sorry. I will say it a thousand times over, because I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I didn't want to put you through this ordeal. And now here you are. I will do everything in my power to ensure that you can at least live a happy life. With or without your dad around." Sarada didn't say anything for a little bit, but her tears slowly started to spring back to life as she reached for the Hokage, looking for any comfort she could find. Naruto extended his hand towards her as she took it and started to lead her back towards Sakura's parents' home where she was staying. Though a gust of wind caught Naruto's attention, and Naruto sighed in exhaustion. He motioned Anbu to escort Sarada home, reassuring her that he wanted to say good bye again and he would end a message for her father about the recent events. With that taken care of, he turned back to Sakura's coffin and walked towards it.

"Sasuke." Naruto called out. From the shadows, a hooded figure stepped forward, carrying a bouquet of flowers in his hands, stepping towards the grave as he placed it upon the casket.

"In the end," Sasuke started to say. "She served her Village, and the Village will prosper under her sacrifice." Naruto was about to retort but Sasuke raised his hand to stop him.

"Naruto, how do you think Sakura would have felt if you had died while she was protecting you? She would have been miserable, for not being good enough to save her Hokage as she had saved you during the War." Naruto approached Sasuke.

"And what about you? What about Sarada? Who would have been there for the two of you?" Sasuke smiled sadly.

"Aren't you here Naruto?" he asked. Naruto didn't say anything as he turned away.

"Because of me, Sarada will be miserable without her mother." Sasuke walked to the side of his friend.

"Because of you, Sarada will endure and she will want to show that she can be like her mother, if not better." Sasuke walked back to the coffin before standing before it, placing his hand on it as he whispered a few words. Naruto sighed.

"Will you stay for Sarada?" he asked. He didn't hear anything for a little bit, and he pressed on. "Why put her through the suffering you had to endure when your family had been killed on the orders of Konoha? She might end up becoming like you!" Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Really? Then why hasn't she killed you already?" Naruto didn't answer, Sasuke continued. "The two of you have been standing there for hours, and she had the opportune moment to kill you, seeing that you wouldn't have resisted. But she didn't. She asked you a question, you apologized, and she forgave you.

"And how would you know that?" Naruto asked.

"Because she is her mother's daughter. Though difficult to persuade, she will forgive in time." Sasuke approached Naruto and grasped his shoulder. "My grudges for the Village are still present, and I fight every day to be rid of them. Once they are gone, I will return." He walked past Naruto and continued forward.

"Sarada is in safe hands, brother. In her grandparents, your hands, and her mothers."

The cemetery was more colorful in the one week that the sakura trees bloomed than any other time in the year. The pink contrasted the gray headstones around. For this reason, it was the one day that an old man with pale yellow hair visited the graveyard for the past fifty years. In his hands was a flower and some sake. He approached one particular head stone and sat down in front of it, placing a flower before the headstone with Sakura's name on it and kneeling before his late teammate.

For a while, Naruto sat there in silence before he heard the footsteps of his yearly companion. He turned towards the noise.

"About time you showed up, Lady Hokage." A tall woman wore a robe of dark green with red flames on the trim, her hair long and her glasses adorned her head like a crown as she sat beside Naruto.

"Can it old man." Sarada said as she grabbed the sake bottle and pulled out a glass from her robe. "You don't have to deal with the paper work anymore, be grateful." Naruto chuckled, as did the current Hokage who handed him a glass.

"You're mother," Naruto said as he pointed to the grave. "Would have scolded you for insulting your teacher." Sarada snorted as she poured herself a glass.

"Please, she would have jabbed you and point out you didn't respect Lady Tsunade all those years you were a Genin." Naruto chuckled as the two toasted Sakura and took the shot.

"You're right, she would. But she would have done the same to you." Sarada rolled her eyes.

"Please, I was her daughter. All I had to do was bat my eyes a little …" Naruto looked to Sarada with an expectant look to which she shrugged. "Fine, she would have done the same." Naruto laughed.

"Keeping Bolt and the kids in check?" he asked. Sarada nodded. "Your dad?"

"Grumpy as usual." Sarada noted. "Have you ever noticed in his younger years that the back of his head looked like a duck's butt?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I think you mean the tail feathers of the duck. I doubt your dad would want to think of the back of his head as the picture of a duck's ass." Sarada chuckled.

"Yeah, I've told him enough times that he intends to get a haircut." Naruto smiled. "Good." They poured another glass and drank it as they stared at the gravestone a little more.

"Your mom would have been proud." Naruto said. Sarada nodded.

"That's what everyone says." She said. Naruto grinned and laid back, watching the clouds go by.

He missed her a lot, but he hopes that she at least found happiness somewhere in her life.

**Author's Note:**

**So this is a slight deviation from what I normally do, especially considering I like my preferred pairing over the ones that are deemed canon in the main story. **

**To those who don't know who I am, I am Raikiriblitz. I am the author of my adaptation of the Naruto story, The Kamikage Chronicles: Ascension of the Kamikage. I had decided to take a break from that story briefly to put up some new material, but to the readers reading my other story; I will be focusing my time on writing the next chapter when I get to it. Do not fear, I am not abandoning that story. **

**I wanted to try my hand at writing a story with a different focus, and it eventually evolved into what you have read. This is a weird thing for me to do because I wasn't too thrilled with the ending of Naruto and writing with those characters in mind was odd, but I actually don't mind in the long run. I might try my hand at expanding towards different ideas.**

**I haven't proofread the story, I got bored at school waiting for my classes and this is what I wrote. If there are inconsistencies or any other issues, sorry. I didn't intend to linger over this story for as long as I did. **

**If you like the story, great! If not, sorry to have disappointed you.**

**See ya!**


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